The Crookston Pirate Boys Soccer team kicked off the 2023 season with an impressive 4-1 victory over St. John’s Prep at the Crookston High School soccer field. Brandon Colburn scored two of the four Pirate goals.
FIRST HALF –
The first 10 minutes of the match saw even play, with neither team getting a good scoring opportunity. That all changed a little over 12 minutes into the half when Crookston had its first shot on goal, and that led the Pirates to complete domination of the final 28 minutes of the half. Two minutes after the first shot on goal, Crookston had another shot on goal, and the St. John’s Prep goalie went down to make the save. The ball bounced loose, and there was a scrum in front of the net as Crookston tried another shot, and it was saved again.
A little over halfway through the first half, Crookston continued to put pressure on St. John’s Prep and got a shot on goal, but it was stopped again.
The officials paused the game with 17:37 left in the half for a water break with the temperature at 85 degrees and 55 percent humidity.
After the water break, Crookston continued to put pressure on and Carter Trudeau had the ball by the net and was shoved from behind, which gave the Pirates a penalty shot. Brandon Colburn had the penalty kick, blasted the shot into the back of the net, and gave Crookston a 1-0 lead with 16:06 left in the half.
Crookston continued to dominate the rest of the half and had several more shots on goal, but the St. John’s Prep goalie made some nice saves, and Crookston took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
SECOND HALF –
Crookston came out strong in the second half and actually picked up the pressure as they seemed to wear down St. John’s Prep with their outstanding depth. Crookston controlled the ball from the start, but it took just shy of 16 minutes before they put a shot on goal, the goalie made the save before it bounced to Matt Contreras, and he kicked a line drive into the net from about 10 yards out for a 2-0 lead.
Less than four minutes later, Crookston added another goal as Jack Everett perfectly placed a corner kick in front of the net, and Lucas Miller was there to kick the ball into the net for a 3-0 lead.
Seven minutes later, St. John’s Prep’s Jorge Leo kicked the ball from about 25 to 30 yards out, and it sailed perfectly over the head of the Pirate goalie into the upper right-hand corner of the net to bring them within a 3-1 deficit.
Crookston didn’t waste any time with an answer as Brandon Colburn recorded his second goal of the game when he received a pass in front of the goal and blasted it into the net for a 4-1 lead with over nine minutes left in the match.
Crookston held on and won the game 4-1 in the home opener.
Crookston improves to 1-0 on the year and will host Fergus Falls on Tuesday. St. John’s Prep drops to 0-1 on the year.
FOR PIRATES COACH LON BOIKE’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| St. John’s Prep | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| CROOKSTON | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Scoring –
16:06 – Crox – Brandon Colburn (PK)
55:58 – Crox – Matt Contreras
60:56 – Crox – Lucas Miller (Jack Everett)
67:31 – SJP – Jorge Leo
70:18 – Crox – Brandon Colburn
| SAVES | 1 | 2 | Final |
| Blake Melsa – Crox | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Charlie Wang – SJP | 5 | 6 | 11 |
